Slug rejector



C. M. PIERCE SLUG REJECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 1933 INVENTOR. J/Z, F/ zBrce Dec. 15,1966 Q M PIERE 6 2,064,686

S LUG REJECTOR Filed Sept. 8, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNE Patented Dec. 15, 1936 ATE SLUG REJECTOR Charles M. Pierce, Detroit, Mich. Loduskia Pierce executrix of said Charles M. Pierce, deceased.

ATE? QFFICE This invention relates to slug-rejecting and coin-sorting devices for coin-controlled mechanisms and the like, and has for a particular object the provision of sensitive and efficient means for detaching and rejecting slugs or improper coins, and for passing proper coins to a predetermined outlet or mechanism.

Another important object of my invention lies in the provision of such sorting mechanism which is of simple and sturdy construction, and so com-- pact that it may be installed in narrow and confined spaces.

A further object is the incorporation in such a device of a novel rotatable selecting element, together with adjustable spring means for controlling the operation of said element, and with which selecting device is also associated means whereby various portions of said selecting element may be utilized at will to perform the desired selecting function, thereby enabling substitution of such active portions one for another, so that if the effectiveness of one portion has been reduced, by reason of wear from continued use, for'example, another may readily be substituted and the full efiiciency of the device restored.

Still another object is the provision of novel means for detecting and rejecting overweight coins, and of means whereby all rejected coins or slugs are immediately discarded or returned to 0 the person attempting to use them, without the necessity of operating other apparatus to effect such return, and irrespective of whether they be under or over the correct weight of proper coins.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent a from the following description, wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of my invention, and wherein similar reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are front and side elevational views, respectively, of a pay station telephone instrument serving as an illustrative example of a coin-controlled device incorporating my improved slug-rejecting mechanism;

Figure 31s a rear elevationl view of the upper portion. of the instrument, showing the rear face of my improved slug-rejecting mechanism in elevation;

Figure 4 is an edge view of the slug-rejecting mechanism, removed from the casing;

Figure 5 is a front view of the slug-rejecting mechanism removed from the casing;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail section taken substantially on the line 6-5 of Figure 5 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figures '7, 8 and 9 are front elevations, with the faceplate removed, of my improved mechaanism, progressively showing the travel therethrough of both a proper coin and an underweight slug, and illustrating the manner in which they areseparated and the one delivered to the coin-receiving chute while the other is rejected; and

Figures 10, 11 and 12 are similar but frag mentary elevational views progressively showing the travel through the selecting and rejecting mechanism of a coin or slug heavier than that intended to be acceptable to the machine.

Referring now to the drawings, reference character 2U designates the casing of a pay telephone instrument, with which my improved slug-rejecting means is for illustrative purposes shown associated; It will. be recognized, however, that my apparatus is equally utilizable in conjunction with other and indeed virtually any coin-controlled apparatus, and that if desired it maybe used purely for the purpose of sorting coins,-the telephone instrument having been selected by way of illustration because since very little space is available in such instruments for installation of slug-rejecting mechanisms, it illustrates the compactness of construction into which my invention may be embodied.

At the top of the telephone instrument are shown coin-receiving apertures, as 2|, ordinarily forming the tops of chutes for conducting the coins to the operating mechanism and thence to the cash box 22. A great deal of monetary loss is occasioned the proprietors of such instruments by the use of slugs therein, particularly, and in fact almost exclusively by way of substitution for the coins of the smallest denomination used in pay telephones (customarily in the United States the five-cent piece). Ordinarily a simple chute (not shown) conducts such smaller coins from the receiving slot 2| to a bell 24, and thence to the operating mechanism. The bell serves to apprise the operator that the coin has been inserted, but in such ordinary constructions any coin, slug, washer'or other piece of metal, fairly close in size tothe dimensions of the proper coin, is capable of sounding the gong and operating the mechanism.

In order to detect and reject such spurious or improper coins and slugs, I provide within the casing 20 a suitable framework, shown as comprising a backing plate 25 and a cover plate 21, betweenwhich are spacer plates 26-28, defining would actually be closed by such plate.

an upper coin inlet chute 30 and lower or outlet chute portions 3 |32-33. Inlet chute 30 is connected to the coin slot 2|. The spacer and backing plates are also cut away as at 35 to house a rotatable selector disc 36, which is journaled in the frame and lies substantially parallel to such plates, in the manner best shown in Figures 6 and 7. A hair counterbalance spring 40 constantly urges the wheel in one direction, and its movement in that direction is limited by a pin 4| carried by the wheel and engageable with a fixed stop 42 mounted on the backing plate, as best shown in Figure 5. The disc 36 is rigidly carried by a bushing 31, which in turn is journaled on a shaft 44 supported in the present instance entirely at one extremity, by a bracket 45 afiixed tothe back plate 25. The hair counterbalance spring 40 is secured at its inner end to the bushing 31 and so in effect to the wheel 36, while the outer end of the spring is adjustably affixed to the bracket 45, as by means of the adjustable securing arm 48.

The stop 42 is so situated that when the pin 4| carried by the selector wheel is held thereagainst by the hair spring, which constitutes the normal idle positions of the wheel, a coin-receiving slot or pocket 50 in the wheel is aligned with the inlet chute 3|! in such manner as to receive a coin entering the instrument through such chute. The spring 4|] is adjusted to so counterbalance the weight of a proper coin that upon its entry into the pocket 50 it sufficiently overcomes the resistance of the spring to rotate the wheel (clockwise, as viewed in Figures 7-9) far enough to carry the coin beyond the partition member 52, while if a lighter coin or slug be so inserted in the chute 30, and enter the pocket 50 of the selector wheel, its lighter weight will be insufficient to rotate the wheel far enough to carry the coin beyond the partition, and such spurious coin will fall from the disc upon the right side of the partition, and be directed through the return outlet'54. A proper coin falling to the left of partition 52, as shown, is conducted first to the bell 24 through chute 32, and thence to the coin-release mechanism (generally designated in Figures 1 and 2), through chute portion 33. It will be recognized that in Figures 7-9 inclusive, the front plate 21 being removed, the chutes and pockets are shown as if open on one side, whereas they The manner in which a proper coin as 55 finds its way through the apparatus in the manner described is clearly illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, and it will be seen to be only necessary that the resistance of the hair spring 40 be so' adjusted to the Weight of a proper coin that such coins are but slightly heavier than the weight required to make the disc stop directly over the partition, and are accordingly just able to turn the selector wheel far enough beyond the partition so that such proper coins may fall upon the left side of the dividing member 52, to insure that all coins or slugs lighter than such proper coins will be cast to the right ofthe dividing member and so delivered to the rejector outlet 54.

The selector wheel is of course preferably of light construction and very freely rotatable, and the coin-receiving pockets as 58 therein are so contoured that after the wheel has turned a partial revolution from the initial position in which it is shown in Figure '7, a contained coin is free to roll out of the pocket upon whichever side of the partition 52 the wheel may have come substantially to rest. The wheel is shown provided with four equally spaced pockets, which may be identical, or opposite ones of which may be identical, as shown, not only to preserve the balance of the disc, but to enable turning the disc a quarter or half turn to bring a new pocket into use after wear from continued use has spoiled the shape of the guiding nose 5| of the pocket initially employed.

A slug in the form of a washer 51 is progressively shown in the process of being conducted to the outlet 54 in Figures 8 and 9. The particular slug shown is so light as to fall from the selector wheel far to the right of partition 52. This partition is provided at its top with a knifeedge, however, as shown, and so long as a slug is sufiiciently light to fall upon the right side of such knife-edge, it will be thrown or ricocheted to the right, and guided by the inclined runway members 59-60 to and through the outlet 54, whence it may be conducted to the coin return chute 52, (Figures 1 and 2).

Limiting rotative travel of the selector wheel under the influence of a coin is an adjustable resilient abutment and kicker spring 63, formed of spring metal and extending behind the wheel in a manner to be engaged by the pin 4| when the wheel is rotated farther than the weight of an ordinary coin of the proper variety is capable of rotating it. Thus when a stronger impulse is given the wheel than a proper coin can impose, as

by insertion of an overweight slug in the machine, the wheel is rotated (clockwise as viewed in Figures 10-12) far enough so that the pin 4| strikes and flexes the spring 63, as best shown in Figure 10. As soon as the wheel comes to rest, the overweight slug, designated 58, of course falls from the slot 50 at a point to the left of the partition 52, so that if it were permitted to fall undisturbed it would enter the coin chute 32. But the resiliency of the spring 63 quickly kicks the wheel 35 in the opposite direction, so that the toe of the bottom edge of the cutout portion 50 strikes the slug while still in the air and before it can clear the disc. This blow is sufficient to throw the slug to the right of the partition 52, and it is accordingly conducted to and through the rejector outlet 54 and thence to the return box 62 just as are the lighter slugs. In order to insure such kicking action the radius of the wheel is preferably increased somewhat beyond the necessary depth of the pockets 50, which results in a somewhat thickened toe portion, as at 5|.

As best shown in Figure 5, the partition member 52 is secured to the plate 25 by means of an adjustable screw 65 in such manner that its position may be conveniently regulated. The kicker spring 63 may be carried by the partition member, as shown, and its pin-engaging end may be adjusted in position, either by means of the adjusting screw 65, or by bending the spring, so that any weight greater than the full weight of a desired coin is capable of throwing the pin into engagement with the spring.

It will be seen that when a coin or slug falls into the receiving pocket of my improved rejecting mechanism, the disc being of light construction and the counterbalancing effected by means of a spring, offering less resistance during the first part of its fiexion, which resistance increases, however, as the disc rotates; the disc is quickly accelerated and turns relatively rapidly under the influence of the coin during the initial portion of its movement. The coin or slug is thus not afforded a chance to roll from the disc until the latter has come substantially to rest, and the position at which the disc comes to rest is of as. in many common constructions, to roll longitudinally of a counterweighted beam possessing relatively great inertia and thus slow in action as well as consuming great space. Nor can the device be blocked, as are such beams, by a coin too light to. overcome the resistance counterweight, because the resistance of the spring employed by the applicant is so slight during the initial portion of its movement that the disc, if weighted at. all, is always free to turn far enough to permit the slug to roll out. The rolling of the slug or coin, however, plays no part in its selection, inasmu-ch as both proper coins and slugs roll the same, and that a very short, distance in leaving the coin pocket, no matter where the selecting wheel: stops.

Both under and overweight coins or slugs are in this fashion quickly and positively rejected by the same mechanism and through the same outlet, without the necessity of providing elaborated, space-consuming detecting means for overweight coins, or elongated detecting beams or other special means such as those ordinarily used or providing for the application of some other force to free rejected coins and reset the mechanism. Although but a single moving part is used in my construction, and no source of power other than that provided by the falling coin itself is furnished, the apparatus effects complete rejection of a spurious coin from the mechanism, and delivers it to a return opening or the like. It will further be apparent that the essence of the invention is incorporatable in structures variant from the preferred embodiment shown, and that the appended claims are accordingly not to be construed as limited to the precise construction illustrated.

What I claim is:

1. In a slug rejecting mechanism, a pivoted selecting member adapted to receive and temporarily support and to be moved to different positions by coins, slugs and the like of variant weights, a resilient stop for the selecting member engageable by a portion carried by said member and adapted to throw said member in a reverse direction to that in which it is actuated by a coin or slug, said resilient stop being so positioned as to be engageable by said portion to resultantly impart such reverse impetus to the selecting member only when. an excessive impulse is given the selecting member, as by an overweight slug, and separate receiving portions circumferentially spaced along the path of movement of the selecting member into which such coins and slugs may be selectively directed in response to variant impetuses given said member by coins and slugs of different weights.

' weights, receiving means for coins of insufficient weight, so arranged adjacent the path of movement of the selecting member that coins of insufiicient weight may travel under gravity thereinto, receiving means for coins of proper weight so arranged farther along the path of rotative movement of the selecting member that coins and the like of sufficient weight tend to rotate the selecting member farther and to a position adjacent said last mentioned receiving means, and to fall thereinto, and a resilient stop for the selecting member adapted to throw it in a reverse direction upon eXtrao-rdinary actuation of the selecting member as by an unduly heavy coin, whereby such unduly heavy coins are also thrown into said same first mentioned receiving means into which the coins of insufficient weight are directed.

3. Sorting means for coins and the like, comprising in combination, a substantially disc-like rotatable selector element, said selector element having a plurality of diametrically opposed coin pockets therein, oounterbalancing means yieldably resisting rotative movement of the selector element, means for conducting coins to and into a coin pocket of said element, said counterbalancing means being so arranged that a coin so introduced into a coin pocket rotates said selector element sufliciently to enable the coin to fall from the pocket, and isolated receiving portions for coins of variant weights arranged appurtenant but circumferentially spaced along the path of travel of the coin receiving pocket, whereby coins of variant weights rotate the selector element to different degrees and fall into different receiving portions.

4. Sorting means for coins, slugs and the like, comp-rising in combination, a supporting frame, a substantially disc-like rotatable selector element carried by the frame, said selector element having a plurality of diametrically opposed coin pockets therein, counterbalancing meansincluding a spring yieldably resisting rotative movement of the selector element, stop means limiting spring-imposed movement of said element, means for conducting coins to and into a coin pocket of said element, means detachably afi-lxing said spring to said frame and selector element, whereby upon detaching said spring and turning the selector element different coin pockets may be arranged appurtenant the conducting means, and separate receiving portions circumferentially spaced along the path of movement of the selecting member into which such coins and slugs may be selectively directed in response to variant impetuses given said member by coins and slugs of different weights.

5. In a selecting mechanism for sorting coins from slugs and the like, a rotatable selecting element, load supporting means carried thereby and spaced from the axis thereof, counterbalancing means including a torsion spring for yieldably holding the selecting element in a position in which the load supporting means thereof is elevated, said load supporting means including a portion adapted to underlie and support a coin when in elevated position, but to be turned to permit the coin to roll therefrom when the selecting element has been sufficiently rotated against the tension of the spring under the load of a coin or slug, said selecting element being rotatable through more than 90, and the resistance of the spring being insufiicient to prevent such degree of rotation under normal loading of said element, by a coin of mass desired to be selected, means for conducting coins, slugs and the like to said supporting means when in elevated position, separate receiving means into which coins and slugs of variant weights may fall, said recording means being peripherally spaced along the path of movement of the supporting means when so loaded, and a relatively thin dividing partition arranged between said receiving portions.

6. In a selecting mechanism for sorting coins from slugs and the like, a rotatable selecting element, load-supporting means carried thereby and spaced from the axis thereof, springs counterbalancing means for yieldably holding the selecting element in a position in which the coin supporting means is elevated, means for delivering to and loading upon said load supporting means, coins, slugs and the like to be sorted, whereby upon delivery of a load thereto the resistance of the counterbalancing means is overcome and the selecting element rotated, and whereby the selecting element is rotated to different degrees by loads of differing weights, the load supporting means being movable, upon rotation of the selecting element, to a position at which it is unable to retain the load against the influence of gravity and centrifugal force, such position being a function of the mass of the load, receiving means peripherally spaced along a path of movement of the load supporting means, and radially spaced from such path so that released coins must fall freely to reach such receiving means, whereby loads of greater mass tend to fall from the selecting element farther along its path of rotative movement, and means responsive to unduly severe actuation of the selecting element by a coin or slug over a predetermined mass for throwing the same in a desired direction, such means comprising a kicker element actuable by the selecting element upon sufiicient travel of the latter.

7. Mechanism as set forth in claim 6 in which said kicker element is arranged to sharply throw the selecting element in a reverse direction to throw a load of excessive mass toward the receiving means for loads of insufficient mass.

8. Mechanism as set forth in claim 6 in which such kicker element comprises a spring deformable by excessive travel of the selecting element and arranged to impart a reverse impetus to said selecting element when deformed thereby.

9. In a device of the character described, a rotatable selecting element of slight mass, spring counter-balancing means for said element, supporting means carried by said element for sustaining thereon rollable articles to be tested, said supporting means including a backwardly curved portion outlying an. article under test loaded upon said supporting means, said outlying portion blocking rolling movement of such loaded articles from said element during a portion of the normal actuative rotative movement thereof, means for delivering rollable articles to be tested to said element at an elevated position and in such manner as to actuate said element with a severity dependent upon the mass of the load, said element being sufiiciently rotatable and the spring means being proportioned to permit normal loads to travel through a position in which the load lies directly beneath the axis of the element, whereby said loads may roll from the element at different positions in accordance with their mass, and means for segregating loads in accordance with the position at which they roll from said element.

CHARLES M. PIERCE. 

